Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Bruckner, Anton. (1824-1896) Symphony No. 3 in D minor. Third version of 1889.

New acquisition.Bought in June 2017.First listen: 27-6-2017.Label: CPO.CD 4 from 11.Recording dates: April/May 2012.Recording venue: Kultur Casino, Bern, Switzerland.Recording engineer: Gerald Hahnefeld.Running time: 54:35.Relevance to me: Essential.Works performed:See heading.Works performed by:Berner Symphonieorchester, Mario Venzago.About Venzago approach I already said a lot in my earlier reviews of Symphony No. 0/1/2. That he is without doubt authentic in his approach of the Bruckner symphonies is crystal clear to me, whatever the criticasters may say or write. No. 3 sounds so uncluttered and has such free flowing virility that is is hard to imagine this work could be done in a different way. For every one of us it is quite an ordeal to be confronted with a slimmed down Bruckner, but in the end in pays huge dividends. Clarity in orchestral matters, coherent in its structure, easy to follow melody lines, and above all you are not blown away by massed brass, or drowned in massed strings. And in the case of the third we get the best orchestra until now. The strings are super sweet, and the brass is a balm for you ears. The Berners have Bruckner in their blood. Especially the finale has all the elements in it, what makes Venzago's approach so special. This will be for me the final Bruckner, unless someone will record it on authentic instruments. That should be quite a treat. Maybe Jos van Immerseel with his orchestra could make a success of it.